Judge orders stalker to wear GPS device

A Villa Park woman has been equipped with a transponder that will alert her when a Naperville man who pleaded guilty to stalking her is within 1,000 feet of her.

Andrew Diorio, 41, was ordered by a DuPage judge today to wear a GPS ankle bracelet for at least the next year and stay away from the woman.

Diorio pleaded guilty today to stalking the woman at her Villa Park home, her Lombard business and on the streets of both communities. He was indicted last year on 36 counts of stalking stemming from six different instances from January through April 2008.

Assistant DuPage County State's Atty. Brian Perkins told Judge George Bakalis that in the first incident on Jan. 2, 2008, he was accused of hiding in bushes near her home, following her car in his car, and, after she had called 911, even followed her into the parking lot of the Villa Park police station, where he was met by police.

Diorio initially claimed that he followed her because her car was similar to that of his former girlfriend and he thought it was her.

Perkins also told Bakalis that in other instances calls were traced to her business from his cell phone, that a car similar to his was seen late at night in her driveway with someone using a flashlight, and that in another incident he allegedly drove his car at hers while she was driving, forcing her to swerve out of the way onto a curb to avoid a collision.

Bakalis ordered Diorio to stay at least 1,000 feet from her home and her business and from the victim herself for at least one year. If Diorio violates that agreement, Bakalis said he would be required to wear the GPS bracelet for the full 30 months of probation he was given. He was also ordered to counseling and a mental health assessment.

"I don't know what fascination you have with this person, but stay away from her," Bakalis said.

Brian Telander, defense attorney, said Diorio has no previous criminal record and had alibis for several of the alleged stalking instances.